Economy toothbrush



Dec. 4, 1956 N. A. BRUNDA ECONOMY TOOTHBRUSH Filed April 27, 1951 ATTORNEY United States Patent ECONOMY TOOTHBRUSH Nicholas A. Brunda, Boonville, Mo.

Application April 27, 1951, Serial No. 223,285

1 Claim. (Cl. 15-176) The present invent-ion relates to an economy tooth brush and it consists in the combinations and constructions and arrangements of parts herein described and claimed.

Generally there is provided a tooth brush wherein the brush part is formed separately from the handle and the handle may be used continuously and the brush part replaced whenever necessary. Novel means is provided for attaching the brush portion to the handle.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a novel tooth brush having a removably mounted brush portion.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character set forth which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and yet effective and efiicient in use.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of novel latching means forming a part of the invention.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the following specification taken in conjunction with the drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a handle forming a part of the invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of a brush portion forming a part of the invention,

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the device shown in Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the invention in assembled condition.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, there is shown therein a tooth brush handle having a recess generally indicated at 11 in one end thereof. The recess 11 is provided with substantially U-shaped walls with the bight portion thereof, indicated at 12, forming the bottom and wherein the legs 13 or side walls extend upwardly and inwardly toward each other.

In Figure 2 there is illustrated a brush portion having a body 14 wherein is embedded a plurality of tufts 15 of bristles and which body is provided with an integrally formed downwardly and angularly extending leg 16 which is provided with a transversely extending notch 17 in its underside. The notch 17 is preferably rounded. Transversely extending across the bottom of the recess 11 is a rounded detent 18 and the bottom wall 12 tapers inwardly 2,772,433 Patented Dec. 4, 1956 'ice and upwardly into the body of the handle 10 to complement a cut away portion 19 on the underside of the leg 16. It will be also apparent that the width of the leg 16 is such that the leg 16 may be accommodated in the lower portion of the recess while the body 14 is sufiiciently narrow to be accommodated in the upper portion of the recess 11. The recess 11 as viewed in Fig. 2 is keystone in cross section. The leg 16 is sufiiciently narrow to allow the notch to be sprung from the detent 18.

In operation, it will be apparent that in order to insert the brush portion into the handle, it is only necessary to press the body 14 and the leg 16 toward each other with the finger and to thereafter insert the brush portion into the slot 11 until the cut away portion 19 bears fully against the bottom 12 whereupon the leg 16 may be allowed to expand by releasing the same to thus allow the detent 18 to be engaged in the notch 17. The brush portion will now be substantially fixed with the handle 10 and may be utilized in the manner of an ordinary tooth brush until it is desired to replace the brush portion whereupon the leg 16 and body 14 may again be forced toward each other to thus disengage the detent 18 from the notch 17 and thereafter the brush portion may be withdrawn by the same fingers utilized to force the body 14 and the legs 16 together. Thus it is only necessary to discard the brush portion and the handle 10 may be utilized over and over again.

While but one form of the invention has been shown and described herein, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that many minor modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a toothbrush, a handle having a recess with an inclined bottom portion and inwardly directed side walls, a transversely extending rib on the bottom of the recess, and a body of resilient material having a plurality of bristles to provide a brush portion, said body having an integrally formed downwardly and angularly extending leg provided with a transversely extending notch on its under side arranged to engage the rib on the handle, the body having a slot between the leg and the brush portion to allow the leg to be sprung towards the brush portion to release the notch from the rib, said notch and rib being rounded, the sides of the body at the brush portion being inclined to tightly engage the inwardly directed walls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,407,214 Osborn Feb. 21, 1922 1,750,500 WeisZ Mar. 11, 1930 1,908,511 Dodson May 9, 1933 1,944,797 McElwain Jan. 23, 1934 2,426,418 Seaver Aug. 26, 1947 2,668,973 Glaza et a1. Feb. 16, 1954 

